Evidence for dynamic kagome ice.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30224640.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-06212-2 and PMC identifier 6141606.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The search for two-dimensional quantum spin liquids, exotic magnetic states remaining disordered down to zero temperature, has been a great challenge in frustrated magnetism over the last few decades. Recently, evidence for fractionalized excitations, called spinons, emerging from these states has been observed in kagome and triangular antiferromagnets. In contrast, quantum ferromagnetic spin liquids in two dimensions, namely quantum kagome ices, have been less investigated, yet their classical counterparts exhibit amazing properties, magnetic monopole crystals as well as magnetic fragmentation. Here, we show that applying a magnetic field to the pyrochlore oxide Nd<sub>2</sub>Zr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub>, which has been shown to develop three-dimensional quantum magnetic fragmentation in zero field, results in a dimensional reduction, creating a dynamic kagome ice state: the spin excitation spectrum determined by neutron scattering encompasses a flat mode with a six arm shape akin to the kagome ice structure factor, from which dispersive branches emerge.